How to Use the Palettes on GIMP

You won't get very far with editing or creating images in Gimp if you don't know how to use at least a few of its palettes. Gimp has many palettes, but the essential ones for image manipulation are the "Brushes," "Layers," and "Toolbox" palettes. A highly effective way of learning to use a particular palette is to click on one of its controls and observe the effect your action has. But, reading articles about the foundation concepts underlying Gimp's tools will also help you use the palettes effectively.

Instructions

"Toolbox" Palette

1. Click the paintbrush icon on the "Toolbox" palette, then click on the drawing canvas. Drag the mouse to draw with the "Paintbrush" tool.

2. Click the eraser icon on the "Toolbox palette," then drag on a portion of the drawing you just made to erase that portion.

3. Click the lasso icon on the "Toolbox" palette, then drag a selection region around the remaining portion of your drawing.

4. Click the "Toolbox" palette showing a rotated square.

5. Drag on your selection to rotate it. This and the preceding steps illustrate how to use the "Toolbox" palette. To use the palette, select one of its tools by clicking its "Toolbox" icon with your mouse. Then, drag on the canvas to apply the tool associated with the icon you clicked.

"Layers" Palette

1. Press "Control" and "L" simultaneously to display the "Layers" palette. Alternatively, click the "Windows" menu, and then click the "Layers" item under the "Dockable dialogs" sub-menu.

2. Click the icon at the bottom of the palette that's shaped like a miniature document. Gimp will create a new item in the "Layers" palette, indicating that you've created a new layer. Layers are like transparencies. They allow you to stack several images atop each other to create the appearance of a single image.

3. Click the paintbrush icon in the "Toolbox," then click and drag on the canvas to draw something on the current layer.

4. Click the eye icon in the "Layers" palette for the currently selected layer. Your drawing will disappear, which illustrates that the eye icon controls the visibility of the layer.

5. Right-click the current layer, then click "Merge down." Gimp will collapse the new layer you made into the background layer. This means that your drawing on the new layer now appears on the background layer.

"Brushes" Palette

1. Click the paintbrush icon of the "Toolbox" palette, then click any icon in the "Brushes" palette to select a brush to paint with.

2. Click in the drawing canvas and drag the mouse to draw with the brush.

3. Drag the "Spacing" slider at the bottom of the brush gallery to the right, then repeat the previous step to draw on the canvas. This time, the brush will paint intermittently as you drag, leaving gaps between each mark. This behavior indicates that the "Spacing" control determines the space between each application of the paintbrush.

4. Click the icon at the bottom of the "Brush" palette that's shaped like a miniature document. Gimp will display a dialog box for creating a new brush.

5. Type a name for the new brush in the text box atop the dialog box, then click the small "x" in the upper right corner of the dialog box to make Gimp create the new brush.

References

• "Gimp Bible"; Jason van Gumster; 2010